Ryan Callahan

It’s Time to Recognize the Other Captain in New York

Derek Jeter is world renowned — one of if not the most recognizable athlete of this generation — and rightfully so. He has embedded his face into the annals of baseball history, athletic history, and will join a Mount Rushmore of baseball legends within the most powerful sports organization for the past century — and rightfully so.

In a sport where distinguished captains are far from endemic (Paul Konerko is currently the only other), he embodies the quintessential leader. Clutch. Smart. Unbreakable. Relentless. Unparalleled competitive ferocity.

He will walk away from baseball — likely within the next couple of years — with five World Series rings , five gold gloves, 13 all-star appearances (with room for more), a plaque in the baseball Hall-of-Fame, and the right to claim that he was the captain of the New York Yankees.

We all know this.

It’s time we divert some attention to the captain in New York City, to a sport where the captain distinction is deeply engrained in the fabric of its culture, a sport that is widely rejected by a large audience but so deeply coveted by its fervent following.

It’s time we talk about Ryan Callahan.

Ask anybody who knows hockey: Ryan Callahan is the guy you want in your foxhole. He’s small but plays large. Despite his stature, he will once again be amongst the leaders in hits this season, as well as blocked shots for forwards.

In a year where the New York Rangers have been plagued with inconsistency and underachievement, the one constant has been Ryan Callahan willing his team to turn the ship around.

^If you didn't watch that link...its 30 seconds long...do it.

How "Captain-esque" was that shift?

Relentless. Unparalleled competitive ferocity. Unbreakable.

When he’s not doing things like that, he’s winning games with a shootout goal.

Clutch.

Callahan often gets pegged as a “banger…a grinder… a mucker,” a guy without elite hockey skills but “bangs” away to be productive. Grinding along the boards…putting home rebounds around the net…battling for advantageous positions.

Yea, he does that all of that stuff, but did you watch that shootout goal? The guy’s hockey skills go vastly unnoticed and under-appreciated. 

O, did I mention he won another game just two weeks before?

Last night in one of those potential season-turnaround games, following two wins in a row and up against the hated Flyers, the Rangers come out flat in the first period. Down 2-1 and in the final minute of the period (after Callahan scored the first goal already), who is there to make a play to change the momentum of the game? Maybe the entire season?

Ryan Callahan.

The Rangers ended up closing out the win when their all-world acquisition Rick Nash put the game away with another 3^rd period goal.

In a season where Brad Richards and Marian Gaborik continue to disappear at big moments, Callahan continues to rise to the occasion.

And that’s why he is the captain of the New York Rangers.

Look, I’m not saying he is Derek Jeter. Don’t get me wrong. Nobody is Derek Jeter. Nobody will ever be Derek Jeter.

But Ryan Callahan is a special player and a special leader. A type of captain that the New York Rangers have not had since Mark Messier — the last time they won a Stanley Cup.

Now, with Rick Nash finally giving the Blueshirts an elite and persistent scoring threat they so desperately needed in last year’s playoff run, this team is ready to do big things behind Callahan's leadership. 

If they do end up making a run this season, we will remember this last month when he seemed to be the only player on the ice, when he kept his team in hockey games, when Ryan Callahan may have single-handily altered the course of the season.

And rightfully so.

-Chris Collins

Follow Chris @ChrisCollins127

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